The Team

JACK HELLER – Director/Producer (Partner)

Born and raised in New York City, Jack attended the prestigious Columbia Grammar and Preparatory High School. Jack received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California, where he was enrolled in the film production program, a school that takes under 75 applicants per year.

At the age of 17, Jack moved to Los Angeles for a summer internship with legendary producer Bobby Newmyer (SEX LIES ANDVIDEOTAPE, TRAINING DAY). While still attending USC, and at the young age of 20, Newmyer’s Outlaw Productions gave Jack a first look and overhead deal. In December of 2003, GQ featured Jack in an article about his ambitious rise in Hollywood at such a young age. After graduating, Jack secured a first look and overhead deal with producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (TRANSFORMERS).

By age 22, Jack was hired by David Schiff to become a founding member of his new management and production company The Schiff Company. David had spent over 25 years as a talent agent and was looking for a young and ambitious manager/producer to build his new venture. In Jack’s three years at The Schiff Company, he helped build an impressive client list.

At the beginning of 2008, Heller left The Schiff Company with Dallas Sonnier to begin Caliber Media Co. He is currently a principal at Caliber, and runs all production, branding, and new media activities. He has produced 12 films in the past 5 years, including a successful series of films starring wrestling legend Stone Cold Steve Austin (DAMAGE, KNOCKOUT, HUNT TO KILL), and the independent film THE HOMECOMING written by Frank Hannah (THE COOLER).

In March of 2010, Jack made his directorial debut on ENTER NOWHERE. Since completing ENTER NOWHERE Jack produced the Milo Ventigmilia and Sara Paxton (Enter Nowhere) thriller STATIC 3D, and REFUGE starring Krysten Ritter and Brian Geraghty, both currently in post.

Click here to view Jack’s twitter feed.

_____________________________________________________

DALLAS SONNIER – Producer/Manager (Partner)

Raised in the Highland Park suburb of Dallas, TX, he first attended University of Southern California at the age of 16. As a freshman, Dallas helped establish a joint venture between the film and business schools that allowed students to major in the “Business of Cinema,” a program that focused on the producing and representation fields of the industry. Prior to graduation in 2002, Dallas was already a full-time employee at the United Talent Agency, where he assisted agents in the film and television departments. After spending 3 years at UTA, he left the company to become a manager at The Schiff Company in 2005. Dallas quickly became a premier representative for talented writers and directors and brokered the sale of his clients’ projects to numerous buyers such as Universal, Lionsgate, Warner Bros, Focus Features, Imagine Entertainment, Paramount, HBO, FX, and Lifetime in his first years as a manager. At the beginning of 2008, Dallas left The Schiff Company to form Caliber Media Co. with Jack Heller. He maintained his clients and is currently the principal manager at the company.

As a manager, Dallas represented several of the biggest spec sales in 2010-2011: ABDUCTION to Lionsgate, DARK MOON to Warner Bros, and THE BIG STONE GRID to Sony. He also represented 13 pilot sales during the 2010-2011 television season (remarkably HBO five times). Caliber’s acting clients have recently booked lead roles in films for Paramount, Sony, Anchor Bay, and Universal, plus television projects for TNT, Syfy, ABC Family, USA and A&E. This year, nine filmmaker clients got their independent features into production with Dallas’ guidance.

As a production company, Caliber has made a series of action pictures for client Steve Austin, which have been released through Fox Home Video, Anchor Bay and Vivendi Universal. The company also created a new and innovative model for ultra low budget filmmaking with mainstream commercial appeal. The first four titles under this new label to be released in 2012 will be ENTER NOWHERE (directed by Jack Heller, starring Sara Paxton, Scott Eastwood, and Katherine Waterston), REFUGE (directed by Jessica Goldberg, starring Krysten Ritter and Brian Geraghty), STATIC (in a partnership with New Artists Alliance, starring Milo Ventimiglia and Sara Paxton), and 3 NIGHTS IN THE DESERT (also with New Artists Alliance, starring Amber Tamblyn, Wes Bentley, and Vincent Piazza).